Kerry Maloney/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod runs drills during the last day of minicamp Sunday.Presumably, veteran Jammal Brown will return at some point and try to get his old job back after spending all of last season on injured reserve. And if that happens, it will easily become the most compelling position battle on the depth chart.

But for now, Brown remains unsigned as a restricted free agent, holding out for a long-term contract offer from the Saints or possibly another team willing to trade for him.

And for now, Bushrod is still the starting left tackle of the defending Super Bowl champs.

"I'm just fighting to get better," Bushrod said when asked if he's determined to keep the job he took over last summer when Brown had season-ending hip surgery. "You know, I can't control who starts Day 1 or going into training camp. I have no control over that."

Bushrod does insist, however, that he welcomes the competition and that everyone would welcome Brown back into the fold.

"That's one of our guys," Bushrod said. "You always want him back. But we really can't worry about what's going on with him. You know, he wants what he wants. And all we can do is worry about what's going on right now.

"If he comes back, great, because we haven't seen him in a while. But we've got to continue to move forward until he comes back."

Saints Coach Sean Payton said nobody's name is written into the Week 1 depth chart right now - not even in pencil. He said if Brown comes back and he's fully healthy as expected, he would likely start splitting time with Bushrod on the first-string offense, alternating days or practices.

"One of them started last year and one of them the year prior," Payton said. "You have to let 'em compete, and both of them become better players because of it."

Although these types of contract holdouts are common this time of year, it's hard to fathom why Brown is staying away from Saints camp under his circumstances.

Clearly, he wants to be paid like the two-time Pro Bowl left tackle that he is. And he was an unfortunate victim of the league's labor issues this year. The former first-round draft pick was supposed to be an unrestricted free agent this past March, but changes to the NFL's collective bargaining agreement made him a restricted free agent instead.

However, it seems unlikely that the Saints will offer Brown a long-term extension with a proven young replacement available in Bushrod, plus a tremendous amount of depth at the tackle position with veterans Jon Stinchcomb, Zach Strief and second-round draft pick Charles Brown.

And it seems unlikely that another team will trade for Brown and offer a long-term deal - especially since he still hasn't returned to the practice field to prove he's 100 percent healthy.

Brown has not been reached for comment in recent weeks, but he has insisted in the past that he's healthy and in good shape while training in Southern California.

"I just look at it as a business. I know what I can do. They know what I can do," Brown said earlier this offseason. "They understand my capabilities, and the last year I played I had a Pro Bowl year. And the same with Bushrod, he played well (in 2009).

"However it goes, I'm just going to work hard and keep the faith that things will work out."

In the meantime, Bushrod's grip on Brown's old job will only continue to tighten.

The fourth-year pro developed quickly after being thrown into the fire last year. A fourth-round pick out of Towson in 2007, Bushrod had appeared in only three games as a blocker on the kickoff return unit in his first two seasons.

Then last year he started 17 games at left tackle, including all three playoff victories.

Now, he comes into his fourth NFL camp as a changed man.

"I'm sure he's a completely different player than he was 365 days ago," said Stinchcomb, who underwent the same transformation after becoming a full-time starter in his fourth NFL season in 2006.

"There's nothing that replaces game experience. And so for him to have seen a full season plus the playoff games and the Super Bowl in your first year of playing, that's invaluable experience for him," Stinchcomb said. "Now you get an entire offseason to work on the weaknesses that are found. Nobody knows your game as well as you do. I know that was the case for me, and you can see it in Jermon too.

"His arrow is only pointing up."

Payton agreed, saying, "The key is, 'Do you feel like the player is getting better?' And in his case, the answer is yes."